The World’s End

September 20, 2013

“Leave a light on, good lady, for though we may return with a twinkle in our eyes, we will, in truth, be blind… drunk!”

Hellllllloooooooooo! Welcome to episode #100 of The Next Reel, everybody! And what a better way to celebrate than to finish the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy series that we started in March 2012 with our episode on Edgar Wright’s latest film, “The World’s End.” Another genre film filled with poignant character moments, riotous moments of comedy, fantastic writing from beginning to end, and solid and assured direction, Wright finishes off this pseudo trilogy (that he started with “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz”) with a film that actually does help tie all three films together thematically while still remaining its own complete film. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we delve into the frothy tale of five guys revisiting (or to some extent reliving) their past as they try to finish a 12-pub crawl they never completed before only to have it rudely interrupted by alien invaders. We talk about Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and what these gents have brought to the table in each of these 3 films, and why this film is such a treat to see because of the reversal in character types for Pegg and Frost. We discuss the rest of the actors, both familiar from Wright’s other work and new to it, and what they bring to the table. We chat about the great stunt choreography and how that pairs with the fantastic cinematography to create some of the most invigorating fight scenes in a while. We go into the themes of the film and how the nature of nostalgia can affect a person negatively and how we, as people, need to keep moving forward. And we quote some of the great lines from the fantastic script by Wright and Pegg. It’s a blast of a film, even if the tonal shift and disagreeable protagonist may keep some people from fully falling for it as we both clearly did. We have a great time talking about it (and thoroughly spoiling it) so go watch it and tune in!

Film Sundries

New Theme!

After 100 episodes, we’ve finally managed to get our act together enough to lock down a theme song for this show. Thanks to Eli Catlin for the wonderful Ragtime Instrumental . Play the song in full below, or visit Eli’s page on SoundCloud.

Trailers of the Week

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When the movie ends, our conversation begins.

THE NEXT REEL FILM PODCAST is a funny and informative show in which co-hosts Andy Nelson and Pete Wright discuss one movie at length, from its origins to its performance and everything in between. Each movie is a part of a series, covering everything from directors to actors, key crew members to genres, years to themes. THE NEXT REEL FILM PODCAST also runs several other series: TNR SPEAKEASY, TNR FILM BOARD and TNR SHORTS.

THE NEXT REEL FILM BOARD is a show in which Justin Jaeger hosts an in-depth panel discussion about a new film just released in theatres.

THE NEXT REEL SPEAKEASY is a show in which a film industry insider joins us for an episode to discuss one of their favorite movies and how it inspires them in their own work.

And THE NEXT REEL SHORTS is a collection of shows and miniseries offering interviews, analysis and commentary curated by producer Steve Sarmento.

All images copyright their respective owners. The Next Reel theme Ragtime Instrumental and TNR Film Board theme Crawling King Snake by Eli Catlin, CC BY 3.0